Hospital to cut 16 employees
$1.7 million deficit for Bluewater Health
Posted By Heather Wright
Posted 5 hours ago
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Bluewater Health officials say 16 people may lose their jobs as a way to balance the hospital's budget.
Like many Ontario hospitals, Sarnia's health care provider has been trying to find ways to deal with a ballooning deficit. By-law, hospitals are not allowed to run deficits. At Bluewater Health, there is a $1.7 million shortfall in the current fiscal year and officials anticipated by the end of the 2009-2010 fiscal year the deficit could be as high as $5 million.
Sue Denomy is the president and CEO of Bluewater Health. She says the board of the hospital this week approved the $157 million balanced budget. It includes the reduction of 25 positions, some of which are not currently filled. Denomy says as many as 16 jobs in different departments across the hospital will be eliminated. Denomy hopes most of the jobs will be downsized through early retirements.
"Our plan is to continue to work through the collective agreements and work with the union leadership to minimize the actual involuntary job loss at the end of the day," says Denomy. "There are some options available within the collective agreements to consider potential retirements."
The hospital is also changing the way laboratory work is done. In the past, doctors in Sarnia would send their blood work to the local hospital to be analysed. Bluewater Health spent $250,000 on that work. Denomy says Sarnia doctors will be asked to send their samples to private labs instead. It won't cost patients money since the Ontario Health Insurance Program will still foot the bill.
Denomy says the hospital is also looking at ways of sharing services with other regional hospitals, especially in management areas.
"We already share some management positions and when those become available we look at whether it is an opportunity to share with (other hospitals) - Chatham is the closest."
The plan also calls for hospital workers to make "more conscientious use and reduction of supplies" and the use of group purchasing to cut medication costs, as well as "maximizing opportunities for revenue generation, including where applicable through OHIP guidelines, patient services and procedures."
